Rainbow carrot tart looks and tastes great

Making simple foods into something a little bit special is the message from Bake The Seasons, a new cookbook by Marcella DiLonardo (Penguin, $32).

The multi-coloured carrots sometimes available make this sustaining tart look pretty. You could equally well make it with standard orange carrots, available year-round.

The author, who lives in Fonthill, Ont., near the lush Niagara growing area, likes to shop in farmer’s markets, and makes the carrots into a fancy dish by adding them to a readymade puff pastry crust spread with goat cheese and a little honey.

She uses the same approach to asparagus, available many months of the year from southern growing areas and now coming into local season. Her asparagus tart calls for the partly cooked spears to be laid on puff pastry spread with fried onions combined with balsamic vinegar and cheese.

The blogger (find her at Hey Modest Marce ) offers more than 100 recipes, many for desserts. Her own photographs make the simplest comfort food look beautiful.

Carrots: In a large mixing bowl toss together the carrots, oil, honey, balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon (5 mL) thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Spread evenly on one of the prepared baking sheets and roast in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the carrots have softened. Remove carrots from oven, but keep oven at the same temperature.

Tart: Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface into an 8-by-10-inch (20-by-25-cm) rectangle. With a fork, poke a line about ½-inch (1 cm) inside the edge of the pastry to create a border. Transfer pastry to the second prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl stir together the goat cheese, honey, the second teaspoon of thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.

Remove pastry from oven and gently spread with the goat cheese mixture, staying inside the border. Top evenly with the roasted carrots. Return to the oven and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the puff pastry is fully cooked and golden brown. Serve at once.